Not so well-known in Europe is Wendell Berry, farmer, teacher, poet, activist, ecologist. I came across his writing in Iowa in 2009  and I was deeply moved. His writing resonated. The agrarian mind. The feeling of depth of place, of connection to land, of mysteriousness of nature. Rhythm, cycles, seasons, belonging, acceptance; place and sense making. I found his poetry incredibly powerful. Indeed, to touch land and grow food is a vital energizing force for me. In a contribution to the book Fatal Harvest he wrote:

To the agrarian mind, which is the only mind capable of rebuilding the culture of healthy soils, water cycles, richness, and diversity. May it multiply in future generations so they can recoup what has been lost and create farms and economies that are sustainable, humane and beautiful.

With lots of pleasure, but barely making a living, I see the agrarian minds in this region who work hard to create this culture of healthy soils and healthy food.  They are heralded as good examples of sustainable food production but are at the same time scraping for an income. Their effort not only nourishes people but also nourishes and rebuilds local resilience, an impact far beyond current prices. Book after book appears which critiques the current culture of profit and greed, the myth of self-regulating markets, the power concentration in the food industry and the urgency for sustainable alternatives. But the larger audience seems intoxicated by passiveness. As if food, land and the planet are not urgent matters to all of us. Who wakes up the agrarian minds?

Finally, after one and a half year preparation, we planted lots of new trees, hedges and bushes in the Pomona neighborhood ‘forest garden’ (see here for the history behind). Old varieties fruit trees, such as ‘moerbei’ and ‘mispel’ together with peer, plump and apple will complement the 6 trees of the old orchard which will be renovated and protected by an extra inner hedge which we planted saturday. Another hegde was planted all around the area to guard it off from the road. This latter hegde contains many different species, some with thorns, planted in small series with here and there a bigger bush and roses.  

Some 20 people, including a group of childeren, came to help during the day starting at 10 and finishing at 4.30. The neighborhood centre provided freshly made soup and sandwiches. Not everybody who wanted to help felt physically capable of doing so. A woman who had been coming to the planning evenings stopped by with a just baked apple pie to contribute to the hard working. We certainly worked hard. The soil is extremely dry and was – at places – very compact and full of stones. However, we got all trees and most of the hedge in and will finish the job next saturday. In the meanwhile we drew up a roster for watering and we wait for the spring to make it all green.

“Trying to change ‘Ick’ into ‘Yum’” is the heading of an article in the NY Times on how the Dutch are preparing their homeland market for insect food. The article is referring to the research done at Wageningen University on insects as food and Dutch government efforts to facilitate the insect breeding sector. Wholesaler Sligro sells insects, such as mealworms or locusts, mostly to restaurants. Will insects soon be in the supermarket? ‘Market penetration’ is certainly an ambition of the insect-as-food protagonists in the Netherlands. It seems, after decades in the margins, that momentum is building up for large scale introduction (see also this coming debate).

jasonfking.com

Not too many respondents had an ‘Ick’ reaction much to the surprise of the students of the Food Culture course. They found a remarkably high rate of respondents who were willing to try (60%). The respondents, mainly fellow students, often referred to the expected protein scarcity in the future and the environmental devastation associated with current livestock production. How to feed the world? Moral pressure by environmental consciousness may be an important factor in the willingness to accept insects as food. Another factor, which, at least in theory, should help consumer acceptance is to construct trendiness around eating insects. If Angelina Jolie is eating insects, we of course, cannot stay behind…where is the Dutch role model?